Excursion
by filkcatwearingabell
Summary: Silver wasn't one to agree to things easily, but then, Lyra didn't like taking no as an answer. And, to be fair, he's never truly beaten her when it mattered. Soulsilvershipping. Fluffy?


Silver wasn't one to agree to things easily. In fact, his current excursion from his training had been the result of three days pleading, two home made lunches brought to him in the middle of his training in the Dragon's Den, and one brunette champion in a stupid marshmallow hat that had threatened to cry if he didn't agree to leave the cave for a day with her. He hated to admit it, but the thought of the Johto champion crying because of him had been the decider this time (although her lunches had been pretty good).

When Lyra had skipped up to him three days ago, he had immediately challenged her to a battle. No hello, no 'thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to come visit me, Lyra'; that just wasn't the was he did things. Lyra had already anticipated this of course – she hadn't been his rival for the past six years without picking up anything about his manners, or lack thereof. Her Dewgong was already by her side and waiting for him to make his first move, its fanned white tail swishing in anticipation.

It was halfway through the battle he realised that, as per usual, he was not beating her. He had taken out three of her Pokemon by that point, but she had sent out her beloved Tyranitar. Apparently, calling it a pathetic little Caterpie-chaser when it was a Larvitar had left the green armour Pokemon with a little grudge after all these years. You know, the type of grudge that means that even after it's knocked out all of your Pokemon it still keeps firing hyper beams in your general direction until you're forced to hide behind a girl at least a head shorter than you. Yeah, just a little grudge.

As he recalled his unconscious Gengar, Silver figured now was the time to inquire as to why his brunette rival was visiting the Den. She giggled, and recalled her Tyranitar, switching it for her prized Meganium.

"I want you to come out somewhere with me!" Lyra's chocolate eyes were large and excited at the prospect of dragging him out of the dark and damp Den. Silver narrowed his eyes and sent out Typhlosion. The fire type, upon realising who his opponent was waved happily. Silver sighed.

"Where do you want me to go?" He knew his voice was laced with suspicion, but he felt it was acceptable given what happened last time. What was meant to be a simple trip out had led to him meeting Lyra's mother, and whilst it was an enjoyable visit, he couldn't help but feel awkward as he was subtly interrogated about their relationship over dinner.

"I want you to come out shopping with me t-"

"No."

There was absolutely no way that he was going shopping with her. Lyra was a renowned scatterbrain, which meant she could, and was likely to, end up buying everything in the store. What's more, but he figured she was only asking him to come so he could carry all her bags. That's why boys were normally asked to go, right?

Lyra pouted, her pink lips pushing out. "Please Silver!" She clasped her hands together in front of her chest and was trying her best to make her eyes sparkle, "I need your help."

The red head crossed his arms over his chest. A few years before, back when he was a scrawny thirteen year old, he would have caved immediately. But in those few years he had built up some kind of immunity to her initial tactics and could, six times out of ten, get her to stop.

This was apparently not one of those times.

"Come on, Silver - just a couple of hours!"

His eyes narrowed again. "I'm not carrying whatever worthless tat you decide to buy for a couple of hours, Lyra. I'm not going. Take Ethan, or Whitney – she likes shopping."

It was Lyra's turn to cross her arms over her chest, her face taking on a thoughtful look. "How about, if you win our battle you don't have to, but if I win, you do have to?"

"Yes, but _when_ you win, my answer's not going to change."

"You will come out shopping with me, Silver! I promise!" She pointed dramatically at Typhlosion, "Meganium! Use Frenzy Plant!"

Silver winced.

Silver winced.

When he had finally been dragged out of the (relative) safety of Dragon's Den, he did not expect to end up in the shop he did.

"Remind me again why you had to drag me out _dress shopping_?" He shuffled uncomfortably on the cushioned waiting chair. He did not belong there.

Typhlosion patted his shoulder comfortingly with his large, yellow paw. When Silver had discovered where he was being taken he had refused point blank to enter the abode unless Typhlosion came in too. Lyra had shrugged and agreed – she had even sent out Meganium so Typhlosion didn't have an excuse.

Meganium had been put to use as soon as they entered and now stood to Silver's other side, its long neck propping up a pile of all manner of dresses its trainer had picked up as they went passed aisle upon aisle of the garments. Apparently such a job was not suitable for Typhlosion because he may get fur on the dresses. Typhlosion didn't really care.

"Because," She drew out the sound as she changed behind the cubicle curtain, "I need some honest opinions on what these look like on me, and you, my dear Silver, are the only person I can trust to do that."

Said person glowered at the blue dralon curtain in front of him. "That doesn't explain why you need a dress. They're impractical for travelling in and you said that a dress was always supplied to you when you had to go to any swanky things for the league."

The curtain was pushed back slightly and Lyra's face smiled at him through the gap. "I told you – After I met Dawn in Sinnoh and found out about contests I've wanted to take part in them. Johto's contest circuit starts up in a few weeks, but I can't take part unless I have an outfit suitable for it. It's the rules! Now, what about this?"

The curtain was pushed back completely and Lyra stood proudly in a floor length peach dress. It was strapless and the top curved around her bust. Silver had no idea what that style was called, and if he was honest, he didn't care. There was a sash of pale orange wrapped around her waist which he presumed was to make it appear smaller, but, again, if he was honest, it looked the same as always. On the subject of honesty…

"You look like crap."

The Champion's shoulders slumped immediately and she looked at her rival, hurt. "You didn't have to be so blunt."

Silver shrugged, "You were the one who wanted my 'honest opinion'." He used his fingers to indicate where he was quoting her.

Lyra puffed out her cheeks and frowned. It took a lot of Silver's self control not to start laughing, but with the way Meganium was glaring at him after his previous comment he figured it could wait. "What's so bad about it?" She demanded.

"Aside from the colour? It's way too long for you. Or, y'know, you're too short."

She poked out her tongue childishly, "I could wear heels."

Silver raised an eyebrow, "Have you ever worn them before?"

"…No?" Silver sighed in annoyance. Lyra put her hands on her hips. "If you think you could do better, I dare you to try!"

The teens stared at each other and their Pokemon were left thinking if now would be a good time to run away. Typically, a stare-off such as this resulted in a battle between the two, but that would prove problematic given their current location. Slowly Silver rose from the seat and Lyra was forced to look up to maintain eye contact. "What are you doing?"

"Better."

He moved away from the group and began going through one of the rails filled with dresses. Most he would push past after a second, but occasionally his look would linger before it was moved on again. As he moved further into the aisles Lyra could feel herself fidgeting. She had always thought Silver had decent taste in fashion – at least on himself. Somehow he chose clothes that made his silver eyes just that much more striking. The few times she'd seen him without his jacket, his black top hadn't left a huge amount to the imagination – the years he spent training in the Dragon's Den hadn't just made his Pokemon stronger.

Despite her, er, admiration for his own sense of fashion, she wasn't sure if she was happy to let him choose something for her. For all she knew, he was going to pick out some horrible dress and force her to wear it as pay-back for making him come here with her. Her shoulders slumped at the thought.

Her red headed rival was difficult to understand; after six years of battling and slowly befriending him, she felt certain that she was only just breeching the surface of who he was. Of course, it didn't help that he apparently didn't like spending time with her. Battling was one thing – if there was anything that could help with his training he would do it – but if she ever suggested he left the Den and walked around with her for a bit she was always faced with the same dilemma of having to persuade him to put down the Pokeball and come into the fresh air above ground.

Before she could dwell on things anymore, a soft blue dress and red shrug were pushed into her arms. She blinked in surprise and looked up to find a red faced Silver. Her gaze turned questioning and when he refused to say anything she poked him in the cheek. He scowled back at her and pushed her back into a cubicle muttering about how the clerk was stupid and that longer hair didn't necessarily mean 'girl'. As the curtain closed between them, Silver was able to hear her giggles.

Sighing, he dropped into the waiting chair. The green sauropod beside him chirped sympathetically and carefully shook its petals out to avoid spilling the clothes. Typhlosion on the other hand was sniggering loudly at his trainer's misfortune and continued to find the event amusing even after a sharp look was sent his way. As long as Lyra was nearby he knew he was safe.

Looking up towards the light fixtures, Silver was struck by just how bright they were. Maybe it was because he rarely left Dragon's Den now – it was certainly a lot darker down there. It was also quieter. There weren't many people down there (and there certainly wasn't the terrible background music this shop insisted on playing) and he had recently started to notice how lonely it was.

The few trainers who were about disliked him because of the way he treated them when he first turned up. In fact, the only interaction he really had was when Lyra came down. She enjoyed battling him and he, though he loathed admitting it, enjoyed her incessant nattering. After all these years, it was the most effective way of calming him down. She'd tell him about her travels, and her Pokemon and how it was so tiresome being the Johto and Kanto champion. On more than one occasion she had remarked that she wished she could abandon everything and go train down in Dragon's Den like him; he'd always brushed it off and pointed out that she would bug him if she did that. He was always brushing her off like that – he would have done so this time, he realised, but she had given him a proper chance.

His eyes dropped to his hands and he was surprised at just how pale they were. He was starting to understand why he had been mistaken as a girl (not that he was forgiving the mistake, just accepting the reasons behind it). Maybe he should take Lyra up on her offer to go on a walk above ground more often.

A clawed hand grabbed at his jacket and he turned to his partner Pokemon who was staring at the changing cubicle, eyes wide. He followed his gaze and felt the corners of his mouth quirk up slightly.

The dress he had chosen was blue – a slightly darker shade, normally seen on denim. Two thick straps across her shoulders kept the dress in place and connected to the straight cut neckline with a few buttons for embellishment. Around her hips a deeper blue sash had been wrapped and tied off in a bow above her left hip. The hem went down to her mid thighs and had been overlaid with white organza petal shapes that came to a point just below the hem. The red shrug covered her shoulders and three quarters of her arm where it was gathered by a button. She had opted to keep on her long white socks and Silver felt that they managed to work with it. _Scratch that, _he thought, _she looks beautiful._

"See? Much better!" He boasted. His gaze travelled up to her face. Her lips were pursed and she had raised an eyebrow. "Problem?"

Lyra let put an exasperated sigh, "This looks a lot like my travelling clothes."

"So? You wanted something that looked good on you, so that's what I found." Meganium called out happily in agreement.

The brunette looked at him wearily, "I thought you said you didn't like my travelling clothes."

"I don't like the fact that you choose to wear a marshmallow on your head." Silver supplied matter-of-factly.

Lyra's eyes lit up and she ducked back into the cubicle. When she returned said hat was perched daintily on her head. Silver sighed heavily, "And you had looked so cute before." He said wistfully.

The hat was off in a flash and her face was less than an inch away from his.

"You really think I look cute?" Her voice was full of hope.

He gently pushed her back before speaking (as much as he like the girl, he needed some personal space), "Of course, I chose the outfit."

Lyra laughed and playfully hit his arm. "Jerk." She moved back to stand in the entrance to the cubicle so she could look in the mirror. After a few moments of twisting to see herself more clearly she turned back to the group and smiled. "Okay! I'm going to get this one."

Typhlosion and Meganium cheered at the Champion's success of finding something, Silver cheered because it meant he could finally leave the stupid shop. The peach dress was dropped into his lap. "Can you put back all the other dresses, Silver?" Lyra called as she departed to get changed into her usual attire.

Silver slumped further into the chair.

It took them a grand total of twenty minutes to leave the shop, what with having to wait for Lyra to finish getting changed and making sure that all the dresses went back to the right places ("Stupid clerk is too busy filing her nails to help." Silver grumbled for at least five of those twenty minutes.).

Silver was incredibly grateful to be out of there though, even if he did end up with Lyra clinging to his arm the moment they exited the doors. "How does dinner sound? On me, of course." The brunette beamed.

"You're not going to let go if I say no, are you?"

"Nope!" She giggled.

Truthfully he didn't mind too much; Lyra had done a lot for him over the years and if she wanted to hang off of his arm he could probably cope with it. Not to mention how she had stuffed her hat into her bag earlier, so he was able to see her face without the white pouf blocking part of his view. He had been a little surprised before at how easily he had told her she was cute, but he couldn't say he regretted it.

They walked along talking about random little things for a while until a thought hit Silver.

"When do the contests start?"

His companion went silent whilst she thought. "In about two and a half weeks time, I believe. Or at least, that's when the MahoganyTown contest is, which I plan on entering. Why?"

It was his turn to go silent. "I think," he hesitated, "I think I might go and watch."

He looked down to see her reaction. Her chocolate eyes stared at him with, dare he think, happiness? Whatever it was disappeared when her expression turned coy. "You just want to see me in the dress you chose, don't you?"

Silver couldn't stop the bark of laughter that escaped him. "I'm not that shallow. I want to watch you wipe the floor with all of them, whilst you wear the dress I chose."

**I've missed this pairing and I got inspired to write for them again after reading reviews on an old fic. If you've read the other fic (Stubborn) then this is in a different universe or something. I apologise for the sucky ending.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon.**

**x**

**filcatwearingabell**


End file.
